Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Dip

I love pumpkin! Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Pancakes, Pumpkin Ravioli... Anything pumpkin! My kids are big fans as well. This is the second year in a row that  we hosted a Pumpkin Potluck Dinner Playdate. Our friends (moms and kids) join us for dinner, dessert and some playtime. Each mom brought a dish or dessert that highlighted the deliciousness of pumpkin. I made Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Dip, Pumpkin Smoothies, and Pumpkin Pancakes. Over the next few days, I will post the recipes so that you can enjoy  them this Fall too! Below is the recipe for the delicious and simple to make Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Dip that I made. This dip is amazing and only took a few minutes to make. I always have a few cans of pumpkin in my pantry and cream cheese in the fridge, so I had everything I needed on hand. I threw all of the ingredients in my stand mixer and let it do the work for me. I served the dip with graham crackers and animal crackers. 

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Dip

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup powder sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine all ingredients thoroughly and serve. Refrigerate any left overs.

Spooky and Yummy Pudding Graveyard Dessert!

I love Halloween , it is such a fun time of year! It is the one holiday that people depart from the norm when it comes to creating food. Nothing says Halloween quite like a graveyard. This recipe is sure to attract little ghouls and goblins!

 

Graveyard Pudding Dessert

Ingredients

1 package of Oreo Cookies
¼ cup of butter
8 oz of cream cheese
2 large packages of chocolate instant pudding
2 cups of milk
10 oz of Cool Whip
1 bag of assorted gummy worms, gummy snakes, gummy insects, or gummy body parts

Directions:

Take the package of Oreo Cookies and grind them in a food processor or a blender (If you do not have one available, you can put them in a Ziploc and crush them by hand). Place them aside. Blend together the butter and cream cheese in a separate bowl. Place to the side

Mix the 2 boxes of instant pudding with the milk. After the mixture is blended together, add the cream cheese and butter combination and the Cool whip. Beat this mixture by hand until the ingredients are well mixed.

Fill the bottom of a glass dish with a thin layer of the Oreo cookie crumbs. Spread out a layer of the pudding/cream cheese mixture over the cookie crumbs. Place a few of the gummy creepy crawlies or body parts in the mixture. Continue to alternate the layers of cookie crumbs and pudding mixture until you are within an inch of the top of the container. The last layer on top should be the cookie crumbs to give it the appearance of dirt. Decorate the top to look like a graveyard using whatever you like. This one was done using gummy snakes and skeleton an graveyard lollipops. Milano cookies make great (and yummy) tombstones and are very easy to find. Just write R.I.P. on them with decorating gel and you are set. This is a fun dessert that you can decorate differently every time and it is sure to be a hit with both the kids and the adults!

Pumpkin Rice Krispies Treats

 

Last week, we had another fun playdate with the kids! We made some adorable Pumpkins out of Rice Krispies! They were almost as easy to make as regular rice krispies treat, but definitely more fun!

 

Ingredients:

• Rice Krispies cereal
• 1 Bag of Marshmallows
• Butter
• Red & yellow food coloring
• 18-20 tootsie rolls unwrapped
• Green Frosting for leaves

 

Directions:

To make, all you need to do is follow the rice krispies treats recipe on the back of the box. When your marshmallows are nice and melted, add red and yellow food coloring until you reach a pumpkin orange color.

 

 

After you stir the rice krispies into the orange marshmallow mixture, spray some cooking spray on the palms of your hands and roll the mixture quickly into balls. I found that I needed to spray my hands between rolling each ball. Place a tootsie roll in the center of each pumpkin and garnish with frosting leaves.

Fun Halloween Treats-- Witch Hats

 

This is another fun to make (and eat) Halloween treat. These are simple enough for the kids to make. All you need are the fudge stripped graham cookies (I get the ones from the Dollar tree, they taste just as good and are so much cheaper), icing in a tube in your choice of color, and some Hershey Kisses. Flip the cookies over, add a dab of icing in the middle, and stick the kiss onto the icing. These are great for parties and playdates because you can make an entire tray in minutes.

Fun Halloween Snack-- Quick & Easy Broomsticks

 

My kids love these-- who wouldn't? They are simply peanut butter cups and pretzel sticks, a combination that most like. Whip some of these up in just minutes, your kids will be thrilled that you did!! Even better, have your kids make them!

 

Oreo Cookie Spiders

 

These Oreo Cookie Spiders are so much fun to make! A pack of Oreo's, some icing(to hold the M&M eyes on), licorice laces, and M&M's and you are on your way to have some fun with the kids!

 

Fun Food for Halloween-- Mummy Hot Dogs

I love Halloween and I especially love all of the fun foods and goodies that you can make to eat. Mummy hot dogs are one of my kids favorites and they are so easy to make. All you need are some hot dogs and a tube of crescent rolls. Roll out your dough and cut thin long strips out. Wrap them around your hot dogs to give them the mummy look. Put them on an ungreased baking sheet and bake as directed. When they are done, let them cool for a few minutes and add eyes using black cake decorating gel, mustard, or ketchup. Your kids will get a kick out of these!